Recent studies have shown that the classification of breast cancer into molecular subtypes is largely represented by the Estrogen Receptor (ER), Progesterone Receptor (PR) and Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2 (HER2) status of the tumor: Basal-like breast cancers correlate best with ER-negative, PR-negative, and HER2-negative tumors [Rakha et al. Clin Cancer Res 2009, 15:2302-2310; Carey et al. 2007. Clin Cancer Res 2007, 13:2329-2334]. Luminal-like cancers are ER-positive [Nielsen et al. Clin Cancer Res 2004, 10:5367-5374] and HER2-positive cancers have a high expression of the HER2 gene [Kauraniemi and Kallioniemi. Endocr Relat Cancer 2006, 13:39-49]. Breast cancer can be classified into molecular subtypes by simple hierarchical clustering of breast tumors according to their gene expression patterns [Perou et al. Nature 2000, 406:747-752]. While this classification system has been developed without consideration of patient survival rates, the different molecular subtypes of breast cancer have different prognoses: luminal-like tumors have a more favorable outcome and basal-like and HER2 subgroups are more sensitive to chemotherapy [Sorlie et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2001, 98:10869-10874; Rouzier et al. Clin Cancer Res 2005, 11(16):5678-5685; Liedtke et al. J Clin Oncol 2008, 26(8):1275-1281]. To date, molecular classification has not played a major role in treatment decisions. However, given the role that these subtypes have played in clinical trials (e.g. PARP inhibitors or platinum agents and taxanes for triple negative cancers [Rakha et al. J Clin Oncol 2008, 26:2568-2581; Liang et al. Drugs 2010, 13(9):646-656]) they are likely to play an important role in future clinical practice.
Concordance between the status of a receptor as determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and the molecular subtype suggests that molecular profiles represent oncogenic processes that are driven by pathways in which ER, PR and HER2 play pivotal roles [Carey et al. 2007. Clin Cancer Res 2007, 13:2329-2334; Nielsen et al. Clin Cancer Res 2004, 10:5367-53742, 3, Sotiriou and Pusztai. N Engl J Med 2009, 360(8):790-800; Cheang et al. J Natl Cancer Inst 2009, 101(10):736-750; Livasy et al. Mod Pathol. 2006, 19(2):264-271]. It is, therefore, likely that the use of gene expression arrays will enable the identification of previously unappreciated subtypes of breast cancer that differ in clinical outcomes.
Molecular classification of breast tumors by IHC or through determination of gene activity by measuring mRNA levels for single genes rely on the presence of protein and mRNA respectively, but neither assay determines whether that protein or mRNA is functional in making full length and functional receptor proteins. As such, both methods have an inherent uncertainty in predicting whether a tumor is truly positive for functional ER, PR or HER2 protein [Roepman et al. Clin Cancer Res 2009, 15(22):7004-7011]. One method to circumvent this problem is to develop gene signatures that measure the expression of groups of genes that correlate with the presence and activity of the gene(s) of interest [van't Veer et al. Nature 2002, 415:530-536; Paik et al. N Engl J Med 2004, 351(27):2817-2826]. A gene profile that is indicative of the activity of ER, PR and/or HER2 would allow the molecular classification of breast tumors by characterization of the functional activity of these genes.